As we are dealing with new fires igniting throughout Mendocino County, we would like to remind everyone to stay safe and be diligent about fire safety and preparedness. For the best up to date information about the current wildfires, please see the Mendocino Sheriff and CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit’s facebook pages. The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council is here to connect our community to post fire recovery resources for both current and last year’s fires.Click Here to View Post Fire Resources for Managing your Land

PLANNING AHEAD FOR SURVIVAL

RISK ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
In a large wildfire, firefighters from other counties may be assigned to your area. They will not know you or where your home is. There will not be enough fire engines to defend each home. In these situations firefighters must make quick decisions based on what they see as they drive down your road. If your home looks savable – if the driveway is wide, vegetation is cleared back from the house, and there’s room for a fire engine to turn around – an engine will likely be assigned to your home. If your home can’t be seen, or it is surrounded by thick brush, your home may be passed by as “indefensible” — too dangerous for firefighters to try to defend. This assessment should help you make your home a defensible “keeper”

Download the Risk Assessment Checklist Here CREATING A SAFETY ZONESafety zones are places where the fuel, the flammable items like grass, brush, etc., have been removed so the fire cannot burn there. When a fire arrives at an area with no fuel, it will burn around the area, but not through it. The people in the middle of a good safety zone will feel the fire’s heat and wind, but should not be burned by it.

FIRE PROTECTION WATER SUPPLIES
In rural Mendocino County water for fire suppression is often hard to come by. Many homes have thousands of gallons of water stored in tanks that can’t be used by the fire department because they lack the necessary fittings. Property owners involved in building new homes often overlook simple and inexpensive features that can make their domestic water supply extremely functional for fire suppression. Every year in California homes are lost to fire that could easily have been saved if water supply for fire protection had been provided.

HORSE OWNER PREPAREDNESS
Emergency responders are trained to care for your life and your property. They are typically not trained to care for your animals. While many of their skills and tools work for both animals and humans, they don’t know enough to be safe around the animals and they end up injuring themselves, the animals and possibly bystanders. The most important thing you can do to help ensure the safety of your horses in a wildland fire is to be prepared.